Crystal Beast
The Crystal Beasts, known in Japan as the Gem/Jewel Beasts are a series of Monster Cards that become Continuous Spell Cards after they are destroyed while monsters. Although weak in terms of actual strength, their aforementioned effects allow them to have great staying power. In addition, they are supplemented by many support cards which utilizes them in their Continuous Spell Card form. This archetype also contains the card "Rainbow Dragon", the ace card of the Crystal Beasts. It can be summoned quite easily as it can be only be played when there are the seven different Crystal Beasts on the field or in the graveyard. The card can also be summoned with the effect of Rainbow Gravity. This archetype also contains one of the most powerful OTK setups with Crystal Abundance, making them robust even against overpowering opponents. The Crystal Beasts made their first appearance in the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX anime, used by Jesse Anderson. In the English dub, each one of the Crystal Beast monsters, save "Ruby Carbuncle", imitates the voice of a real life movie celebrity. : See also Advanced Crystal Beasts. Play Style Crystal Beast decks tend to have a wide variety of searching options for putting Crystal Beast cards on the field, either summoned as monsters or placed in the Spell & Trap Card zone, and they have a couple of extra drawing options to speed up the use of the deck. Because of these effects working together, Crystal Beast users can wind up many cards ahead of their opponent, and the various searching options facilitate the summoning of Rainbow Dragon far quicker than would otherwise be possible. The Archetype also supports come-from-behind wins quite easily due to the double whammy of Crystal Abundance, which wipes out everything on the field and then swarms the field with monsters from the Graveyard, and the Field Spell Card of the set, Ancient City - Rainbow Ruins, gains a new effect for every Continuous Spell Card Crystal Beast you control. The archetype is also somewhat resistant to opponents who use Spell and Trap destruction effects, as a couple of cards can quickly put the Crystal Beasts in Spell form back onto the back row from the Graveyard, and the Field Spell Card resists being destroyed itself. The Crystal Beast monsters are also a very strong combination with "Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder". These cards are great for duelists that have usually have long turns and and pull tricky moves. And duelists that know how to summon high ranking monsters on a players 1st turn. Another plus for this deck is Ancient Fairy Dragon. You can swarm the field with ease with her on your side and make an easy search for Ancient City - Rainbow Ruins Weaknesses The back row of a Crystal Beast user can get clogged easily and generally must be left open for Crystal Beast Spell Card-form cards, so an effective deck can't use any Continuous Spells or Continuous Traps. The archetype also relies upon the opponent destroying the Crystal Beasts in order to most quickly get them into the back row, so a clever opponent might simply summon a strong monster and avoid attacking the Crystal Beasts, instead using direct-attack or Burn-Damage tactics. Crystal Abundance, the trump card of the set, can also be easily stopped with a well-timed Counter Trap. Also, with the sole exception of Rainbow Dragon, most crystal beasts have subpar ATK when compared to tributers, fusions and synchro summons, making it quite painful until Rainbow Dragon can be summoned. Optional Support * Anteatereatingant - The cost for this card is easily met by using a couple of Spell-form Crystal Beasts, and it functions both as a beatstick and as a way to destroy an opponent's Spell or Trap cards, two things that Crystal Beasts are lacking in. * Beast Soul Swap - You can use this to perform a "double attack" with a Crystal Beast, and if you use it on Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus, you can put 1 more Crystal Beast onto the field in Spell Form. * Destiny Hero - Diamond Dude - As well as fitting in the the 'crystal' theme, a lot of Crystal Beast support cards are Normal Spell Cards, and Diamond Dude ignores costs and requirements for cards like Crystal Abundance whilst allowing you to use support even if you find yourself with all 5 Spell/Trap Card Zones filled or unusable. * Dweller in the Depths - An easily-summoned dragon that will power up for every Continuous Spell Card you control--easily becomes a great source of cheap power in a Crystal Beast deck. * Gem Flash Energy - Does burn damage to the opponent for every Continuous Spell Card on the field. A good source of consistent damage but very dangerous to use since it prevents you from using the all-important Crystal Abundance. * Green Baboon, Defender of the Forest - Since four out of seven Crystal Beasts are Beast-types, you can use his effect when they are destroyed by paying 1000 Life Points * Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder - A good replacment for Rainbow Dragon and/or a nice card to add. Its Special Summoning ability goes hand and hand with the Crystal Beast abilities to be Continuous Spell Cards. Both being a beatstick and a protector (defense position ability), it can aid the ever weak Crystal Beasts. It can also be complemented with Crystal Beast Emerald Tortoise, which allows it to attack during a turn, then be switched to defense position, thereby activating its effect. * Imperial Iron Wall - This card could help prevent your Crystal Beasts from being removed from play. * Kuraz the Light Monarch - This card can let you tribute 2 Crystal Beasts to the Spell and Trap Card zone and then draw 2 Cards! *Magna-Slash Dragon/Gravi-Crush Dragon - A great card for Crystal Beasts decks since it can destroy up to one Monster (Gravi-Crush Dragon) or a Spell/Trap (Magna-Slash Dragon), at the cost of a Continuous Spell Card. * Manticore of Darkness - Since you you can only put five Crystal Beast monsters in the Spell and Trap zones, you can send some of the Crystal Beast cards from your hand to the graveyard to keep him out, and with an ATK of 2300 he can give you a little edge * Rescue Cat - Can summon 2 Crystal Beast Amethyst Cats, which then destroy themselves to go into Spell form. * Red Dragon Archfiend - Because this card can destroy all of your other monsters, it essentially allows you to control which Crystal Beasts get destroyed and reduces reliance on your opponent to destroy your Crystal Beasts. Simply determine which ones you want to be destroyed by having them not attack. * Summoner Monk - This card enables a Crystal Beast user to quickly summon either Rescue Cat or Sapphire Pegasus, which are the two monsters every Crystal Beast user wants to see in the opening turn. And since Crystal Beast decks use a large amount of situational Spell Cards, the cost of Summoner Monk is almost never a problem. * Thunder Crash - If you pull Crystal Abundance and find yourself hard pressed for those Continuous Spell versions of the CB monsters, you can activate this to inflict damage and get the required monsters in the spell/trap zones. * Torrential Tribute - If anyone summons then you can play this card and send all your crystal beast to the spell and trap card zone. * Treacherous Trap Hole - Because this card destroys 2 face-up monsters, even if one of your Crystal Beasts is destroyed it won't affect you that greatly, and a Crystal Beast Deck uses very few Trap cards, making it easy to use. * Wild Nature's Release - This can vastly increase the ATK of a Beast-type monster, and at the end of the turn it is destroyed. This is good for both emergency power and to speed up the process of getting Crystal Beasts into Continuous Spell form. * Earthbound Immortals-Your opponent will have a hard time destroying Ancient City - Rainbow Ruins, so they are pretty much safe to use. * Ancient Fairy Dragon- I'ts a good way to search out Ancient City - Rainbow Ruins and recover some life points. Notes *If a Crystal Beast monster is destroyed while a card like Macro Cosmos/Banisher of the Radiance is face up on the field, the player controlling the Crystal Beast is given the usual choice. In this situation, the Crystal Beast can either become a Continuous Spell card or be removed from play. The effect of the Crystal Beast monster still works. *Crystal Beast monsters have no effects of their own while in the Spell and Trap Card Zones. *If Skill Drain is on the field, Crystal Beasts do not have the option of being placed in the Spell/Trap zone. Deck Types Crystal Abundance OTK The OTK is more competitively friendly. It utilizes Crystal Abundance's effect to work, so a few copies of the card is essential to have in the deck, as well as a way to search it out (Different Dimension Capsule or Gold Sarcophagus work nicely). There must be four Crystal Beasts in the Spell & Trap Zone, plus an open slot to activate Crystal Abundance. Wait until you have five Crystal Beasts on the field or in your graveyard with attacks of 1600 or more to activate the card. Upon activating Crystal Abundance, if your opponent had at least five cards on his/her field, all five of your monsters can be Special Summoned. Crystal Abundance leaves your opponent open to a direct attack. Another way to achieve this outcome is by the use of the Destiny Heroes. With the combination of the various normal spells and Destiny Hero - Diamond Dude, it can make a speedy deck. The three Crystal Beasts you will most likely use in this build would be Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus, Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth, and Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger since they are the strongest and will make for an easy win. Recommended Monsters Monsters * Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus * Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth * Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger * Destiny Hero - Diamond Dude * Destiny Hero - Malicious * Destiny Hero - Dogma alternate win * Elemental Hero Stratos * Card Trooper Spells * Rare Value * Crystal Beacon * Crystal Abundance * Crystal Promise * Crystal Tree swarm the field in combo with Pegasus * Destiny Draw * Lightning Vortex * Smashing Ground Aggressive Crystal Beasts This deck is a very weak build that relies on either depleting your opponent's life points fast, or destroying your opponent's cards fast. If you plan to burn through your opponent's life points, Seismic Crasher and Gem Flash Energy are good cards to include. If card destruction is your goal, then you should use cards like Magna-Slash Dragon, Gravi-Crush Dragon and Crystal Raigeki. Also, Dweller in the Depths and Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder are general beatsticks for delivering the final strike, and Ancient City - Rainbow Ruins is a strong defensive card that doesn't take up a Spell and Trap Card Zone slot, so they are good assets. For both of the above strategies, it is absolutely essential to keep the number of Crystal Beasts in your Spell and Trap Card Zone high, so some common cards are Kuraz the Light Monarch, Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus, Crystal Blessing, Crystal Tree and Crystal Counter. There is another build of Aggressive Crystal Beasts known as Crystal Monarch. Working similiar to Apprentice Monarch, and using the Crystal Abundance engine, it's possible to beat your opponent down with the crystal beasts and then activate Abundance to clear the field, summon the CB's and then either before you attack or after, you can summon a Monarch for an added threat. As of right now, Crystal Monarch is the only stable aggressive build. ' Beast Type OTK ' With this type of crystal beast deck you'll need the usuals except for Crystal Beast Cobalt Eagle who is not a Beast-Type like the other Crystal Beasts. The main combo is to swarm the field with Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus and Special Summon Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle to get your field filled with beasts. With your field with beasts you can then use the key card The Big March of Animals to give your beasts 200 point attack power boost for each beast on your side of the field. This will give the power to OTK your opponent. Synchro-Crystal Beasts Basically, there are 2 types of Crystal Beasts Synchro. The first is the one that uses psychic tuners like Krebons and Psychic Commander, and Emergency Teleport to speed it up; the universal engine. Then with the release of X-Saber Airbellum in the Starter Deck 2009, you can add a mini Synchro Cat engine to it, by adding Crystal Beast Amethyst Cat. Because Emergency Teleport is limited, most Crystal Beast decks run 2 Summoner Monk and 2-3 Rose, Warrior of Revenge to speed it up. Crystal Merchant The focus of this deck is similar to Rainbow Dark Dragon Turbo. Fill your deck up with 3 Rainbow Dragon, 3 of each of the Crystal Beasts and a some Lightsworns monsters, as well as Magical Merchant and 1 Monster Reincarnation and possibly Heavy Storm. Use Magical Merchant to send Crystal beasts from your deck to the Graveyard. Then use Monster Reincarnation to get Rainbow Dragon to your hand. If you have it in your hand use Heavy Storm to clear your opponent of spells. Then attack with Rainbow Dragon. It's up to you about it's effect. The Lightsworns and Card Trooper can be used to send cards from your deck to the grave to help you get cards into your grave if you can't seem to draw Magical Merchant. Cobalt Smackdown The focus of this strategy is to utilize the powers of Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus and Crystal Beast Cobalt Eagle. To start with you need to have Cobalt Eagle on the field and then send out Sapphire Pegasus or vice versa. Use Cobalts effect to send Sapphire back to the top of your deck. Every turn use this technique and you'll be able to bring out all seven of the CB's on your spell and trap card zone. You will then be able to summon Rainbow Dragon Crystal Lock This deck uses Gravi-Crush Dragon Magna-Slash Dragon and Patrician of Darkness to form a small lockdown. Can be combine with Rainbow Dragon and syncro-crystal beasts. Recommended General Cards Monsters * Rainbow Dragon * Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle * Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger * Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth * Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus * Crystal Beast Amethyst Cat * Crystal Beast Emerald Tortoise * Crystal Beast Cobalt Eagle * Rescue Cat * Summoner Monk * Rose, Warrior of Revenge * X-Saber Airbellum Note: Cobalt Eagle, Emerald Turtle, Rainbow Dragon may not be needed for most competitive builds Spells * Ancient City - Rainbow Ruins * Crystal Abundance * Crystal Blessing * Crystal Beacon * Crystal Release * Crystal Promise * Rare Value * Lightning Vortex * Terraforming * Book of Moon * Mystical Space Typhoon Traps * Torrential Tribute * Bottomless Trap Hole * Solemn Judgment Extra Deck * Ancient Fairy Dragon * Black Rose Dragon * Goyo Guardian * Thought Ruler Archfiend * Magical Android * Stardust Dragon Category:Archetype